EASTON, MARYLAND — On August 14 the Maryland Tax Court struck down the state’s first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax as a violation of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act and other grounds, and ordered refunds with interest.

Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s office said the state had collected about $535.5 million through July and had fenced the money off pending the cases. The office said it respects the ruling, strongly disagrees with it, and will work with the attorney general on next steps, including appeal. Legislative analysts had pegged the tax at as much as $250 million a year. The dollars were supposed to help pay for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future — the education mandate driving structural gaps of more than $3 billion in the year ahead as costlier pieces come online.

Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed the digital advertising tax bill in 2020. The General Assembly overrode that veto on Feb. 12, 2021, enacting the tax (Chapter 37, Acts of 2021; later amended). Collections began with tax years starting in 2022. Lierman, a Democrat on the November 3 ballot against Republican Sonya Dunn, administered the later collections.

For Talbot, the practical question lands on the boards that write local checks. The Talbot County Council and the Talbot County Board of Education still have to fund their Blueprint share after a dedicated stream lost in court. Democratic leaders have continued to describe the scheme as fully funded. If the refunds go out, the Blueprint does not get cheaper. The next ask will land on the same income, sales, and fee base Gov. Wes Moore’s caucus already tapped in 2025.